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Saturday, 31 January 2015

Corvette ... The Great American Supercar

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The car has been produced through seven generations.

The first model, a convertible, was designed by Harley Earl and introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a concept show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, maneuverable warship.

The 1954 model year vehicles could be ordered in Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red and Black, or Polo White. 3,640 were built, and sold slowly.

1956 Corvette

The 1958 Corvette received quad headlamps, bumper exiting exhaust tips and a new steering wheel. The 1959–60 model years had few changes except a decreased amount of body chrome and more powerful engine offerings.

In 1961, the rear of the car was completely redesigned with the addition of a "duck tail" with four round lights. The second generation (C2) Corvette introduced the Sting Ray. Production started for the 1963 model year and ended in 1967.

The third generation Corvette was introduced for the 1968 model year and was in production until 1982. Styling changed subtly throughout the generation until 1978 for the car's 25th anniversary.

Regular fourth generation production began on January 3, 1983. Beginning in 1985, the 230 bhp (170 kW) L98 engine with tuned port fuel injection became the standard. Chevrolet released the Grand Sport (GS) version in 1996 to mark the end of production of the C4 Corvette.

Production of the C5 Corvette began in 1997 and ended with the 2004 model year. The C5 had a top speed of 181 mph (291 km/h) and was judged by the automotive press as improved in nearly every area over the previous Corvette design.

The sixth generation-C6 was produced between 2005 and 2013.
The 6.0L (364 cu in) LS2 V8 produced 400 bhp giving the vehicle a 0–60 time of under 4.2 seconds. Its top speed was 190 mph (310 km/h).

The 2015 Corvette Z06 was engineered to be lightweight and rigid with an aluminum space frame, carbon-fiber hood and removable carbon-fiber roof panel.

It was also designed to be powerful, with a supercharged 6.2L aluminum V8 engine delivering at least 625 horsepower and 635 lb.-ft. of torque. The 2015 Corvette Z06 is one of the industry’s only supercars to achieve over 600 horsepower and offer a choice of two transmissions – a 7-speed manual or an all-new paddle-shift 8-speed automatic.